TEMPE, Ariz. – NC State women’s tennis earned the best preseason ranking in program history as it was tabbed the No. 3 team in the ITA Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll on Wednesday.
The Wolfpack has now started in the national top 10 four seasons in a row. NC State has been featured in the national top 15 of every rankings release since Feb. 26, 2019 and in the national top 10 of every rankings release since April 7, 2021.
The Wolfpack is coming off its second-straight NCAA Tournament quarterfinals appearance and tied its program-best final ranking of No. 6 last year. The squad went 26-6 overall and 10-3 in conference play in 2022, with those 26 victories marking the most in a single season in team history.
NC State returns five players from that 2021-22 squad, including 2022 NCAA doubles champion Nell Miller and All-Americans Abigail Rencheli and Alana Smith. Sophie Abrams and Amelia Rajecki also return to the Pack, and the squad welcomes four newcomers — U.S. Junior Open doubles champion Diana Shnaider, NAU transfer Gina Dittmann and freshmen Chloe Henderson and Anna Zyryanova.
Following fall play, NC State had three players in the singles top 25. Smith (No. 13), Rajecki (No. 23) and Rencheli (No. 25) were within that threshold, and Abrams (No. 97) was also ranked in singles. NC State is one of only three programs nationally to have at least three singles players in the top 25.
Two Wolfpack pairs are ranked in doubles as well — Rajecki and Miller at No. 8 and Rencheli and Abrams at No. 60. The next set of singles and doubles rankings will be released Feb. 8.
NC State kicks off 2023 action at the Miami Spring Invite from Jan. 13-15 before stepping into dual match action at South Carolina on Jan. 21. The first chance to catch the Wolfpack at home will be ITA Kick-Off Weekend, with the team’s first match in that tournament scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 28.
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